There has always been an invisible string between Taylor Swift and the Kansas City Chiefs in the form of head coach Andy Reid — but Travis Kelce wasn’t exactly jazzed to learn about it.
“I knew [Taylor] before, from Philadelphia,” Reid, 65, explained during the Monday, January 29, episode of SiriusXM’s Let’s Go! With Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray. “Her dad played [football] at [the University of] Delaware and was a big football fan and good guy. So I had met him there and her.”
Before moving to Nashville in the early 2000s, Swift, 34, grew up on a Christmas Tree farm in Pennsylvania. The pop star has been open about her family’s love for the Philadelphia Eagles over the years, even working the team into some of her songs. Reid, for his part, acted as head coach for the Eagles from 1999 to 2012 before moving on to the Chiefs, the team of Swift’s current boyfriend Travis Kelce.
Reid joked on Monday that his longtime bond with the Swift’s was the “last thing” Kelce, 34, wanted to hear when he started dating the Grammy winner in summer 2023. “[Taylor] told [Travis], ‘I know your coach.’ And he went, ‘Oh, God, come on!’” Reid recalled, laughing.
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is just as enchanted by Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s romance as everybody else. Swift and Kelce first sparked romance speculation in September 2023 when the pop star showed up at Arrowhead Stadium to cheer the Chiefs on as they faced off against the Chicago Bears. Swift’s attendance […]
Swift and Kelce have been dedicated to showing up in support of each other since sparking a romance, with Swift attending more than 10 of Kelce’s games since September 2023. She was in the crowd when the Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens for the AFC Championship on Sunday, January 28, and was spotted hugging and kissing Kelce on the field after the game. Swift and Reid also shared their own special moment, pointing and smiling to each other from across the crowd.
The happiness Swift has brought Kelce is something Reid is grateful to see. “She’s a good girl. And I’m happy for Trav,” he told Let’s Go! host Tom Brady, noting that their romance has not caused any type of “distraction” for the tight end. “Trav’s handled it right, she’s handled it right and we just move forward. So it hasn’t been a problem at all.”
Andy Reid finds Taylor Swift in the crowd and points her way. Fun moment between the two. pic.twitter.com/5TtK5Gso55
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) January 28, 2024
Reid has been a supporter of the relationship from the very beginning, In November 2023, he shared that he is just thankful the pair have each other. “I’m glad he’s found somebody he likes and she’s found somebody she likes,” he said during an interview with KHSB, Kansas City’s NBC affiliate. “That’s a good thing.”
Two months earlier, he teased that he was the one who played Cupid. “I set them up,” he told reporters in a September 2023 press conference before quickly exiting the podium.
Kelce and Swift’s love story began in July 2023 when the athlete revealed that he attended one of Swift’s concerts to give her a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it. Although unsuccessful, Swift later caught wind of the gesture and the duo began dating shortly after. Kelce later explained that there was someone keen on setting them up even before he attended her concert.
“There were definitely people she knew that knew who I was, in her corner [who said]: ‘Yo! Did you know he was coming?’” he told WSJ. Magazine in November 2023. “I had somebody playing Cupid. She [later] told me exactly what was going on and how I got lucky enough to get her to reach out.”
While Reid was certainly a connection for Swift and Kelce upon meeting, the couple’s real matchmaker, dirt track racer Danny Frye III, revealed himself earlier this month.
“Funny thing is, a lot of people have been trying to figure out who I am lately. It’s been an interesting month or so [and] I’ve been going to a few Chiefs games,” Frye, who is Swift’s second cousin, told FloRacing TV at the time. “You know, [I] made a love connection between her and Travis Kelce, so it’s been quite the 34 years that [Taylor and I have] had together.”
Although Reid wasn’t who struck Swift and Kelce with Cupid’s arrow, the coach made it clear during an October 2023 press conference that the singer is always welcome in Kansas City: “She can stay around all she wants,” he said.